Keir Starmer SUSPENDS trade talks & slaps Israel with sanctions over ‘escalation’ of war in Gaza
SIR Keir Starmer has suspended trade talks and imposed sanctions on Israel over its military expansion in Gaza.
The PM also summoned the country’s ambassador.
It is the Government’s strongest condemnation of Israel since the post-October 7 war began.
In the Commons, Sir Keir described the “level of suffering” in Gaza as “intolerable”.
He said: “We’re horrified by the escalation from Israel.
“The level of suffering, with innocent children being bombed again, is utterly intolerable.”
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Foreign Secretary David Lammy slammed Israeli far-right ministers for “continued egregious actions and rhetoric”.
Announcing sanctions on three individuals and four entities involved in West Bank settlements, he said: “I find this deeply painful as a lifelong friend of Israel and a believer in the values expressed in its declaration of independence.”
Furious Mr Lammy hit out at plans by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to take over the Gaza strip and only permit limited aid into the coastal enclave.
He told MPs: “We must call this what it is. It is extremism.
“It is monstrous. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
Responding to sanctions, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused ministers of an “anti-Israel obsession” fuelled “by domestic political considerations”.
Spokesman Oren Marmorstein said: “External pressure will not divert Israel from its path.”
